All On A Winter's Day
by LadyDelacour
Summary: It all started as a pretty normal day. Then the infamous pair, Sirius and James get in a riff. Then James' secret love gets lost in the forest during a snowstorm. Adventure, Unicorns, secret lairs, and ice pixies abound!


.All On a Winter's Night. By Genivieve  
  
One on particular January day, in a particular Wizarding school, in one particularly messy room, James Potter was about to punch the wall in. Standing in the middle of his 6th year dorm he shared with his roommates and best friends(Sirius, Lupin and Pete Pettigrew), he grunted with frustration and threw the 10 foot final report on the 111 uses of a hag's toenails on which he had only written 2 feet. Running his hand through his black, moppy hair, he sighed to himself and sat on the floor. Many thoughts ran though his head as he brought himself to think about the day's events. "Damn, I wish Sirius came with a mute button, that big nitwit!" He silently made a mental note to himself to have the house-elves put an extra heating pad or TEN on Sirius's bed tonight as he remembered what happened today at breakfast.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
It had been not such a bad morning for a Monday, but that all changed at breakfast. James cheerfully walked into the Great Hall ten minutes after waking up, whistling a new Weird Sister's tune that he had heard the other day. His roommates had chosen not to wake him, and a good choice they made seeing as last week he had been "accidentally" woken up by Peter, who had to walk around all day with an extra arm, a token he didn't forget easily. He turned into the hall, still whistling merrily thinking of his love. Ah, Lily. Lily Evans. He loved everything about her. They had been great friends ever since they shared a compartment on the Hogwarts Express during first year. Being both in Gryffindor, they spent a lot of time together, both even made the House Quidditch team. The other Mauraders(as James, Remus, Sirius and Peter often called themselves) would get jealous of him spending all his waking hours with her sometimes, but he tried to equal it out. She was this amazingly beautiful witch, with sweeping auburn curls and these startling green eyes that would just haunt his dreams every night, making him want her even more. Trying to push the thought that they will never be out of his already happy mind, he casually swung the Great Hall's massive oak doors open. The sight that came to his eyes was like every normal Hogwarts morning. Kids from all tables were finishing up todays entrees, which happened to be very delicious looking Belgium waffles with a side of kippers and toast layered with butter. James paused at the door, took a deep breath and just the smells gave him a reminder of why he loved food so damn much. With his head held high, James walked quickly over to the Gryffindor table, to plop right next to Toady(the name he lovingly bestowed upon Lily, hence the color of her eyes), scaring her so badly, she flung her scrambled eggs from her fork to across the table at a Ravenclaw prefect. Ducking profoundly under the table, to dodge the death stares the 6th year was now shooting at anyone in 10 feet radius around him, they erupted into loud bursts of laughter. Needing to control themselves(as not to get caught; The prefect was now searching for the origin of the obnoxious giggles coming from the Gryffindor table), Lily forcefully set her face in a serious manner, hinting at James to do the same. Getting the message, he turned to Sirius who was rushing in last minute Astrology homework. "Hey, Siri, how's everything?" James said casually, twirling his fried-ham clad fork around, watching it in boredom but eyeing it like it was a snitch. "Great, just bloody wonderful! I see you finished your essay, Jamesy. Now why can't you just let me sneak a peek at it, go on then! Noo! You've got to be a good boy and leave me to suffer!" Sirius looked, James thought, like he was in one of those moods. The kind where anything he says, you better just damn well agree or nothing good will turn out of it. But he stood his ground. "Oh shut it, Sirius. I think your smart enough to figure out where the hell the sun is placed in the Solar System! Oh wait. Or are you?" He didn't want Sirius ruining his perfectly good morning, but if he wanted to fight, he wouldn't just stand there. Besides, he was sick of it. But he had already said the magic words. As soon as he said he doubted Sirius's intelligence, he wished he could take it back. No one insults SIRIUS'S intelligence. "Oh yeah, Potter?! Yeah well I may be behind on this, but I'm not dense enough to be liking my best friend, Lily, now am I?" He said this all very fast, as though he had been mustering up his courage to say it and everybody knew as soon as he had said it, he hit a nerve. James sat there speechless. He could NOT believe Sirius had said this out loud. He had trusted him. He could feel his already flustered face becoming tomato-like. Just sitting there in disbelief, trying not to look at Lily( who was looking at James in mirroring disbelief, trying to find words but unable to), James collected his wits about him and stood up. He quickly and hatefully whispered to Sirius and purposely knocked his goblet of pumpkin juice over. "Don't talk to me ever again." He gave Sirius a look of such loathing, even Sirius gulped fearfully. And without a backward glance, and no care about the classes he would miss, he strode swiftly through the hall. He ignored Lily's pleading cries of "JAMES! Come back! We need to talk!". As he made his way up the marble staircase he swore to himself and(passing a very concerned looking Dumbledore, who decided to let James be James.) went straight to his welcoming dormitory.  
  
*End of Flashback*  
  
Sitting on the window seat next to his bed, he wistfully looked outside to the sheets of lovely white snow falling down to the grounds. He had always loved snow. No matter how bad life was at the moment, you could always forget your worries with one glance at the falling white crystals. He had been up here for four hours now, and not one person had come and looked for him. He mentally thanked Dumbledore for that. No matter how loony that old man was, James always considered him a close friend. He sat there for a while, silently stroking his owl, Jemison. He looked out the window one more time, about ready to go back to class, when he saw a very odd sight. Squinting his eyes, he opened the window and stuck his head out. A dark-green cloak-clad someone was running very quickly from the front Oak doors and making for the dark, ominous woods beyond. Seeing red curls protruding from the hood, James knew at once who it was. Lily! He started to get nervous and thought about going after her. Then as he heard high-pitched crying coming from her, he knew he had to follow. Five minutes later, he had his trusty ol' Gold-Streak 900(the broom he received for his 16th birthday) in one hand and a compass in the other. He put his red hat, scarf and to pairs of gloves on, just in case it would take a while. Opening the window further so Jemison could soar out first, he snapped the compass on the sleek pine handle of the broom and with a quick swipe of his foot, sped off into the coming night. 'Lily must have gotten a head start.' He thought, which made him lean forward and made the broom creak and moan from the speed. Soaring over the many protruding branches of the forest he scanned for Lily but could not find her. Seeing as he had his wand and he knew his way around the forest well enough he decided to land. The snow was coming down a lot harder, practically in sheets. All he could think about was getting to Lily before something went wrong. Eyeing a breakage in the foliage, he flew down to find a clearing. Swinging his foot from off the broom, he looked around. The ground of the clearing was covered by almost two feet of snow, James guessed. But the odd thing was that the pines and maples were so close together that they made some sort of canopy over the forest floor. Stepping out of the clearing and under the sheltered canopy, He found little stray snow-flakes falling down. Closing his eyes, and forgetting why he was there for a moment, he let the moment take him. He swirled around in the cool air, catching random flakes on his tounge. He smelled the crisp, woody smell of Pine along with the smoky smell of winter. He was in a world of his own. Which was precisely why he didn't spot a full grown female Unicorn step into the clearing behind him. James quickly snapped out of his dreamlike trance as soon as he heard the whinny. Whipping his wand out from his trousers pocket, he spun around to find himself face to face with one of the most mysterious and wondrous creatures he had ever seen. Pure white from head to toe, with shining golden hooves, the female unicorn stood proudly not even five feet in front of him. Hair whiter than snow seemed to flow without wind and the pointed white horn gave of a glowing blue shine that seemed to hold magical powers. He stood there in mesmerizing awe and slowly put his wand into the inside pocket of his black cloak. The unicorn whinnied once again and started slowly towards James. James felt no fear and instead went closer to it. With one steady hand forward, James came in contact with the suprisingly warm mane of the unicorn and hesitantly stroked downwards. Knowing that she wouldn't get harmed, the creature nuzzled James' forehead, causing his glasses to go askew. Laughing and stroking its head, James looked into the unicorn's eyes. They were a bright, shining shade of green.  
  
"That's odd," James thought aloud. "I was pretty sure that unicorn's eyes were always blue." The beast suddenly got excited and bucked up, causing James to back up into a tree in alarm. Then, she seemed to be pointing to her back with that beautiful head of hers. Confused, James stepped away from the tree and back into the clearing. Pointing again, the unicorn then dropped to her front knees, looking liked she wanted James to... "Ride you?" James said out loud, left eyebrow raised. "Are you sure about this? I may be skinny but its just an illusion, honest!" The unicorn snorted, as if that ended the matter. So James, experienced in mounting things, swung his left foot over and grabbed hold to the soft, pearly mane. Holding on tight as the creature, he watched as she stood up, and with amazing speed and agility, bounded into the forest beyond. Trees and snow looked like one big blur as the world sped by. Time was lost, and even though the storm grew worse, James knew nothing. The feeling of raw muscles underneath you was like nothing he had never felt. Being in the presence of such beauty and innocence was overwhelming. He closed his eyes and locked away those moments forever. The unicorn galloped on, going deeper into the forest than James had ever been. They passed a massive waterfall, half-frozen water spilling over the top, giving it a marvelous sparkling effect. After that, they came to a grove of massive oak trees, on which a group of Ice-Dwelling faeries had built an enormous community, made entirely of ice and silver. They waved to James and some even hitched a ride on the unicorns tail, giving the breathtaking illusion that it was encrusted with gleaming blue gemstones. After awhile, James remembered why he was there and suddenly realized that the snow was coming down in torrents and the bitter, icy wind was seeping through the holes in his wool coat. The sun had gone completely down, and the only light was that of the full moon; it's view obstructed by the trees above. Taking out his wand and muttering, "Lu-umos!", he squeezed his ankles into the unicorns flanks as he had seen so many horse-riders do, he tried to stop. But it kept on galloping over the ground, over a frozen and fallen log and into another smaller clearing ahead. She stopped and bucked her hind legs off. James, whom had had his hands off her mane in confusion, slipped off sideways with a yelp. "What in the blazys do you think your pulling?" He cried angrily at the beast when he had gotten to his feet, straightening his glasses and trying to find her through the sheets of white falling from the sky. "I have no idea in the world where I am right now! Please don't leave me! Do you know where Hogwarts is? H-O-G-W-A-R-T-S?" He said slowly, as if thinking the unicorn could spell. It neighed and slowly walked away. Not wanting to be left alone, James quickly grabbed his wand from the snow at his feet and followed. They walked for no more than two minutes when, through the snow, James thought he saw a light ahead. Going closer, he saw the unicorn hop up a rock ledge and into the small mouth of a cave. Sucking in his breath, James followed suit up the rock-stairs to find a two lit torches on either side of the inside of the cave. The snow melted from his hair and a gust of warm air came from the passageway beyond. Seeing more lights, he cautiously walked forward, eyes open and alert. When he came to the end, he found he was in a brightly lit, rock- walled chamber. There were large torches on the walls and a little waterfall in the corner, the water collected in a shallow pool below. The floor was scattered with oriental rugs and pillows of all shapes, sizes and colors. And in the middle lay the unicorn. Smiling, he knew he would be safe here for the night, until the storm blew over. Seeing the the passive look on the unicorn's face, he knew he was welcomed here. Since it was warm, he removed his gloves, hat, scarf and his cloak. Even in his clothes and school robe it was more than comfortable. But he thought it might be cold during the night so he kept those on. When he finished, he found the unicorn drinking at the pool, so he decided to get a drink too. He kneeled down next to the unicorn, cupped his hands, and dipped them into the cool water. He took a sip and realized how damn famished he was. He selfishly took gulp after gulp. When he was satisfied, he saw that there was water all down the front of his shirt and that in the process of drinking he had also washed his face. Smiling, he thought about what Toady would say if she was here. Then remembering that he didn't know if she was OK or not, stopped smiling. Sighing he walked over to a comfortable looking, blue and fluffy Persian rug. Grabbing the nearest pillow, a gold tasseled one, he settled down. The unicorn was laying down again and now had a cloth bag in its mouth. Nudging it towards him, James sat up and took it curiously. Undoing the knot, he pulled open the strings to find a hunk of cheese and some bread. Thanking the unicorn with a muffled "Fanks!", he ate the food. The unicorn responded with a nod of its head and it closed its eyes. James consumed every last crumb and found himself nodding off. Not being able to hold of sleep any longer, he put the bag aside and laid back down. Sleep was coming quickly and with one more mental image of Lily's smiling face, he closed his eyes and was dozing in an instant.  
  
"And soon you'll be Here with me, Once upon a December."  
  
James slowly opened his eyes, recalling where he was and wondering who on earth was singing and stroking his hair lovingly. It felt wonderful and made him want to go back to sleep. It was still warm in the cave, but he could feel a chilled air sweeping from the entrance behind him. Then, remembering that the only living thing he had been in contact with before he fell asleep was a unicorn and that unicorns DIDN'T posses the power of speech, his eyes flew open and his hand dived into his pockets searching for the wand that wasn't there. "WHO ARE YOU AND WH-" he started but then stopped when his eyes fell upon the person who sat on the floor beneath him. "Lily?!" he gasped in amazement as she smiled her warm smile up at him, causing him to melt for her once more. She had tear-stained cheeks and her hair was wild, but it only made her more breathtaking. "How in gods name did you get here?!" Saying this, he looked around the cave, in search for the unicorn, but she was no where to be found. " Are you OK?" He asked this all very quickly as though she was his teenage daughter coming home past curfew. She laughed heartily and said lovingly "James," and she patted the floor next to her. "Come sit down. I've got two important things to tell you." He obeyed and slowly lowered to the floor, sitting indian style right across from her. She took his hands in his, and they locked eyes. Both kept eye-contact and held their breaths before shouting in unison... "I LOVE YOU!" James' right eyebrow went up in surprise, a genuine smile on his face while Lily's whole face brightened and a big smile crept onto her lips. She let go of his hands and dived onto him. He greeted her with opened arms and they rolled around on the cushioned rugs, embracing and kissing all at once. James planted sweet pecks all over Lily's face as she laughed and laughed. Soon they were laughing together and just was a tangle of legs, red hair and lips. They stopped rolling, and Lily pulled her face back, just inches away from James. "I am so sorry for this morning, James. As soon as I heard Sirius, I was stunned. I never would have guessed that my crush and best friend of five years would feel the same. Never! When you stormed out of there, I thought that Sirius was lying. I was so heartbroken so I ran into the woods." She stopped for a breath and James took this opportunity to close the gap between their lips. Before she could talk again, he lightly pressed his lips to hers, and kissed her softly while twirling her hair round his finger. She pushed down and deepened the kiss, opening her mouth and letting James explore with his tounge. After a blissful minute or two, she broke the kiss. "James Potter!" she laughed and scolded mockingly. "Let me finish or we'll never get out of here!" "Okay, okay!" He said with a pout on his face. "But make it snappy!" She laughed again. That light, bubbly giggle that made James' knees give way. "So, as I was saying, I went into the woods to explore to come to my getaway of six years to think." At this point in the story, she gestured with her hand, the interior of the cave. "I saw you follow me, and as I watched you, I knew that you were worried. So I knew it must've been true that you loved me. But, seeing as we said it in unison last time, repeat it once more?" She snuggled into his chest and listened to his breathing as he said slowly and softly, "I love you, Toady." She laughed at the name and gave him a playlike smack on the shoulder. "But I don't understand something." He said, his forehead scrunched in confusion. She sat up as if too say go on and they locked eyes again. " You said this was your lair? What about the unicorn with the green eyes? And you followed me? And watched me? But I saw no one else besides the unicorn with the green eyes!" And as he was saying this and looking into a familiar pair of eyes, a shining shade of green, a revaluation came to him. "No! It couldn't be!" He said with a look of awe and amazement on his face. Lily was keeping her laughter from erupting from her mouth but she couldn't help herself. She started to giggle and James just sat there with his mouth open looking at her with the funniest look on his face. And then she lowered herself back onto him and snuggled up with a satisfied look on her face. James smiled too and continued stroking her hair as she said softly, "Thats right, James Potter! I'd like to let you know that you, Sirius, Lupin and Peter are NOT the only unregistered Animagus at Hogwarts this year. No sirry! So the next time you guys go on one of your adventures, you know a certain unicorn you better invite...."  
  
  
  
  
  
-End- 


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